


Stuck in the Middle With You

by blueteak



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-30
Updated: 2016-10-30
Packaged: 2018-08-28 00:25:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8423569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueteak/pseuds/blueteak
Summary: After an hour stuck in the elevator on Halloween, senior staff suspected the reason they were still stuck there had something to do with Leo trying to teach them a lesson. White House elevators couldn't just get stuck like others, could they?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SuburbanSun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuburbanSun/gifts).



Toby had actually tried to bounce his ball against the elevator walls. CJ had caught it before it could give Sam a black eye. Josh had actually tried to tell ghost stories while they were in their fifth minute of being trapped in the elevator. He had gotten as far as "Three people were coming back from counting hanging chads when they realized they weren't alone in the car," before Donna had given him a look and reached for his hand. Asking him whether he really thought wasting air when they might run out and/or plunge to their doom would only result in statistics about how unlikely that would be and more stories. Touch, she had learned, seemed to ground him.

Still, an hour later, Donna thought she might actually murder one of them. And if Josh thought he was safe because they were, somehow, holding hands again, he had another thing coming. If he tried pressing the call button again to see if they could get Leo to stand there and listen to a continuation of a debate that had finally gotten them kicked out of the Oval by a president desperate to give out candy on the White House lawn, she was prepared to grab one of her long ago discarded heels (those stilettos had not been designed to be worn while trapped standing in an elevator) and club him over the head with it. Even Josh's ghost stories would have been better than this. None of them were open to listening to reason.

After it seemed like negotiations between them had broken down again, Sam looked up at the call button thoughtfully and held up a hand. "You're right, Toby. The president should highlight the provision for single mothers. Right, Josh and C.J.?" he asked, nodding maniacally while gesturing for them to wait while he wrote "What if us being stuck here is a way for Leo to get us to hammer out an agreement? Just say yes for now" on a notepad.

"Why do we have to fake-agree with Toby's plan out of all the plans?" Josh asked while C.J. loudly agreed with Sam.

None of them seemed to think it outlandish that Leo would conceive of doing something like this. Donna needed a raise. And a coffee. And a sandwich.

Still, Sam's triumphant fist-pump when they started moving three minutes later was kind of cute.

Leo was waiting for them when they finally emerged from the elevator, crumpled and hungry.

"We're all in agreement on Toby's plan, Leo" Sam said, smiling widely and nodding around at everyone once more.

Leo looked at him, clearly concerned that the time in the elevator had broken Sam. "That's great, Sam. We really need to work on that elevator situation, though. It took so long to get you guys out of there I was beginning to suspect you'd never existed in the first place or I had had some sort of bizarre _The Others_ White House situation going on."

"You mean you didn't keep us locked in there?" Sam blurted out. 

"No, Sam. Sam and Toby, I need you on the McMaster brief in ten. Actually, I needed you an hour ago, but thought I'd spare you a conference through the elevator intercom. But look at it this way: you won't be stuck at home passing out candy." That said, Leo strode off, giving them one last concerned look that turned into a grin when he caught sight of Josh and Donna's still intertwined hands.

Josh grinned back at Leo, then squeezed Donna's hand before letting go. "Trick or treat later?" he asked.

"I'll be by, and you definitely owe me more than candy," Donna replied.


End file.
